Digital banking business Black Banx, a dynamic force for innovation in the vibrant fintech sector is building the world’s first truly global banking platform allowing private, business and institutional clients from 180 countries to access banking products regardless of their location and industry. And it’s delivering fantastic growth in doing so. With 15 million private and 750 thousand business customers, the company generated revenues close to $1bn per year to and is set to double group revenues to approx. $2bn by end of 2023.
One of the important persons behind Black Banx´s enormous growth is Founder and Group CEO Michael Gastauer. Business Talk Magazine and other media outlets call him “one of its kind” FinTech entrepreneur, and finds “building a $50 Billion Dollar company in less than a decade is iconic”.
Michael Gastauer has developed Black Banx Group since its launch in 2015 with a focus on providing customers with flexibility, the highest quality technology and easily conducted transactions through a global network of ninety correspondent banks clearing 28 FIAT currencies. That is a compelling proposition for business and private clients as well as smaller institutional customers with a less sophisticated correspondent network. Black Banx’s geographic scope stretches to 180 countries. Gastauer’s proposition is particularly attractive in a region where the traditional banking infrastructure has been based around high fees for banking services, restricted or limited access to foreign currencies and often a local branch network which can be very difficult for customers to access. Black Banx’s mobile app and API based model offers a new world of convenience and lower costs for its customer banking with ease has become a reality for its Latin American customers.
Black Banx Group is not Gastauer´s first business the serial entrepreneur founded and successfully sold two other businesses previously, allowing him to set up his family office and provide funding for the company in its early stages. The company is well funded with strong margins from its four tiered revenue model. The first strand is cross border transfers, previously facilitated by traditional banks at steep commissions this is where BlackBanx started and it secures high margins by providing a service which substantially undercuts traditional banks, helped also by the low cost base its focus on local banks affords. The other strands of its revenue model are foreign exchange transactions, cryptocurrency transfers and interchange from card issuance.
These activities are highly cash generative, so the company is well positioned whilst it explores future options to extend its shareholder base through an IPO. Its growth trajectory is typical of a major player in the early stage fintech sector – Gastauer describes it as being rather like a hockey stick in shape. The first few months start-up phase saw a gradual ramp up in growth which then became hyper exponential. Seven years after its launch the company is still generating a year-on-year growth rate of 100% in terms of revenue and customer acquisition. In the last twelve months (to June 2022) the payment volume of private clients reached $133.5bn and $111.7bn for business and institutional customers, representing 37% and 50% growth respectively, whilst private client funds held on account rose to $8.8bn, an increase of 110% since June 2021 and further growth to $16bn targeted for 2023. Black Banx Group sends more than $20bn per month around the world for its clients.
So BlackBanx is a fully fledged, committed operator leveraging the potential offered by the fact that traditional banks are increasingly unwilling to provide accounts for businesses or private individuals on a truly international scale especially for underbanked countries, whilst their financial model has become increasingly unattractive and outdated for customers. With ongoing globalisation and the unstoppable use of SmartPhones, the world is more connected than ever before. Black Banx has a US$ 22 trillion target market and is providing innovative solutions in a unique way. Based on its proprietary software ‘GlobalKYC‘, the company can identify customers in 180 countries in real time, and provide them with checking accounts in 28 FIAT and 2 Crypto currencies. The account opening process for a business or private individual takes less than 8 minutes and is done entirely remotely over the internet or on a SmartPhone. When Black Banx did its first live demo on Money 20/20 in Las Vegas, the fantastic potential of this technology became obvious to the banking and finance world.
Combining its ability to provide checking accounts in minutes to a worldwide clientele with its capacity to send unlimited wire transfers around the world for a lower price and faster than traditional banks, Black Banx has seen demand for its proposition soar. It has become the holy grail to customers from a multitude of countries and industries, solving their banking issues in a convenient and low cost manner.
Michael Gastauer anticipates continued dynamic growth, with revenues set to double by 2023, whilst cross-border payments could reach more than $500bn by the end of 2023 which is 2.3% of the global cross boarder payment market.
When asking Michael Gastauer what in his opinion a likely valuation of his company is, he said:
“In 2021 we have seen companies in the Fintech sector reaching double digit billion USD valuations. I would not deny the fact that such valuations back in 2021 seamed realistic. However, as we all know, as long as a company is not publicly traded on an exchange, any valuation is completely based on what the shareholders think their business might be worth if they were to sell it. I think the next 24 months will be important for all us to find out, who are the Fintechs being able to make money and sustain a certain level of growth. Those who will be able to ride out the storm will be the big winners. Once global economy is back to normal, for those Fintechs the sky will be the limit, and this is when I will put a price tag on Black Banx not before. ”
Michael Gastauer also said he is currently less interested in his companies valuation but rather focused on the technology and business model of Black Banx. His aim is to transform the global banking business, making it work like a social media network, where users can interact – exchange funds – instantly, anywhere, anytime on a global scale.
